


Just A Bit Longer

by AlannaRose



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Forest Spirt!Oikawa, Ghost!Sugawara, Iwa's dead, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13262115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlannaRose/pseuds/AlannaRose
Summary: Acceptance is the most difficult stage of grief, and Oikawa's never been able to properly wrap his head around the concept. With Iwaizumi's passing he took Oikawa's heart with him. And even after 200 years Oikawa isn't about to give up hope of finding Iwaizumi again.





	Just A Bit Longer

Darkness overtakes the sky as the sun sets behind the horizon and with the setting sun comes the time of spirits. No longer chased away by daylight they slink out of the shadows, pale imitations of what they once were, fragments of souls laid to rest. A passerby would stop and stare at the bold way the spectors wander about the graveyard; trapped in a place long abandoned by humanity the spectators no longer fear being seen.

Found in a forest, the trees shield the graves from the harsh rains and brutal industrialization of the outside world, but not the danger of the weeds that grow without abandon and crack the cobblestone pathways.

The wailing of grieving spectors is lost in the night, scaring away anyone who for even a moment would consider entering through the graveyard’s rusted, ornate gates. This night was like so many more, yet many of the older spirits felt restless. Someone was approaching… no- some _t_ _hing_.

Everything falls silent as the creak of the rusted gate sounds louder than the eerie sounds of weeping that all the graveyard’s inhabitants are accustomed to. The only sound is the clicking of hooves on the stone pathway.

Not a single living soul has come to the graveyard in years. Curious, the spectors search and crowd around the being that has entered. They soon discover it to be a deer walked along, unperturbed by the small following it had gathered. Some spectors leave to go back to their holes to cry for their forgotten lives. Other continue to follow, feeling the magic following from this being, amazed by the way it just exudes living energy. Quietly they whisper to each other, curiously debating the reason for its presence.

The deer keeps its gaze forward, seemingly knowing the path it is taking by heart. It comes to a stop before an old crumbling grave.

“It’s been a while,” the words are spoken by a man sitting atop the gravestone looking down at the deer. The kind smile on his face and glimmer of mischief in his eyes are out of place among the many graves. His soft brown eyes stick out against the disgusting shade of white his skin is and dull grey color of his hair. Or well, they would if it weren’t for the unnaturally red, jagged line etched into the skin around his neck. A permanent scar that ruined the almost doll like look of the man.

The deer looks up, for the first time acknowledging the presence of another being since entering the graveyard. A blinding white light surrounds its body, and many of the onlookers flee, scared away by the sheer magnitude of living energy the unknown create displays.

But those who stay are treated to a rare sight. The light fades into a dull golden aura around what is now the form of a young man. The color of his hair and eyes match the brown of the bark of the oak trees that surround the graveyard. And from his hair extend two magnificent antlers that curl around head, shaping something akin to a crown. His skin is pale, but not in the translucent way of the spectors that follow him. Instead, it is a nice compliment to the golden glow around him and the dark green leaves that grow sporadically out of his skin. His lips are teased up into a smirk as he regards the ghost that addressed him, “I’ve been busy Sugawara. Now if you could do me a favor and get your flat ass off Iwa-chan’s gravestone, I would appreciate it.” His eyes take on a dangerous red glint.

The spectors around him are transfixed by the golden aura. Some brave but foolish ones reach out the touch him, just wanting a taste of what they felt was the magic of a living being. The man turns to them and frowns. At the wave of his hand the aura expands, encompassing them and the spectors disappear with a loud screech. Seeing their fellow spirits actions and the man’s retaliation the remainder of the small group flees.

The only one left is the pale ghost who rolls his eyes and floats of the grave. He makes a grand display of dusting the nonexistent dirt off his pants. As he does so he says, “My ass is not flat thank you very much,” looking to where the other spectors flee he continues, “You know, you didn’t have to kill some of them to scare them off Oikawa.”

Oikawa crouches down in front of the grave, brushing off some rubble to reveal the name engraved crudely into the stone: Iwaizumi Hajime. “That’s where you’re wrong Suga-chan. I’ve been dealing with fragment’s like them for longer than you. They won’t just go away if you ask. I was doing them a favor anyway, they were just going to fade sooner or later,” Oikawa tells him never taking his eyes from the grave, “He hasn’t come out yet?”

Sugawara sighs, shaking his head, “No, and I don’t think he ever will.” The earth around them shakes and Oikawa’s eyes turn blood red. Sugawara frowns, crouching down next to Oikawa. Knowing he couldn’t give Oikawa any physical comfort, Sugawara settles for a calming tone, “He’s been dead for hundreds of years now Oikawa. If it was going to his soul would have appeared here. I think you have to accept that his soul’s passed on by now, he’s at peace.”

The souls that remained in the graveyard where of those who still had regrets, they had something they needed to accomplish, or someone they wanted to remain close to. Most of the time only fragments of souls were left behind to grieve lost time, those were the weaker spirits. And then, sometimes there would be complete souls trapped in the graveyard, like Sugawara. A boy who died young while playing on this very ground before it was even a cemetery by falling into a hole and breaking his neck. For many complete souls it could take hundreds of years to finally come to accept their death and pass on. Sugawara couldn’t even begin to count the years he had spent in the graveyard and didn’t want to. Here, he had been able to help many other souls find peace, be it fragments or complete ones. He knew it was his true calling to remain here at least a while longer, maybe for an eternity.

Oikawa’s posture only stiffens with Sugawara’s words. His tone is harsh as he snaps back, “He didn’t even leave behind a fragment. He had so much to live for. So many things that could keep even a peice of him here. And you want me to just accept that apparently none of those things were enough?” _‘I wasn’t enough,’_ was left unsaid, but Sugawara could see the turmoil in his friend’s eyes.  

“You gave him the best life he could have lived,” Sugawara reasoned, “Maybe attachments to forest spirits can’t keep souls here?”

They both knew it was a stretch. A water spirit by the name Kageyama once befriended a human named Hinata. And as far as both of them knew, Hinata had died about a hundred years ago, and yet every so often they saw flashes of bright orange hair followed by a pair of watchful blue eyes darting through the forest.

Despite the cold hard truth staring him right in the face, Oikawa mumbles out a quiet, “Yeah, you might be right.” His eyes return to their normal shade. He spares a glance at Sugawara and teases, “You look like you’re getting more solid. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? You’re never going to pass on at this rate.”

Sugawara laughs, “If I pass on who’s gonna make sure that you won’t let the whole forest burn down?”

“That’s Terushima’s deal, you know that,” Oikawa says while rolling his eyes.

“I guess you’re right,”Sugawara says. They sit in silence for a moment before Sugawara starts humming a lullaby he heard somewhere or another. The peace that settles between is comfortable, but a loud sob from elsewhere in the cemetery interrupts it. “Duty calls,” Sugawara stand up and stretches his back out. Smiling brightly he asks, “Are you sticking around tonight?”

“It’s his birthday,” is Oikawa’s only response. Sugawara nods and goes to pat Oikawa on the head, but thinks better of it right before they touch. Silently he floats off into the direction of the sound of a newly dead soul.

Oikawa lets the silence ring in his ears as he stares at the gravestone. Sometimes he thinks about using his magic to restore it to its former glory, but always decides against it. _‘You don’t mess with the belongings of the dead,’_ Iwaizumi’s advice worms it’s ways into his thoughts. That one statement is what stopped Oikawa from not only restoring the grave, but also from using magic to stop the overgrowth of what had once been Iwaizumi’s house on the edge of the forest.

Oikawa furrows his brow as he thinks of the house. Many of the children that live in the town nearby often come to ‘test their bravery’, it upsets him. He would do his best to scare them away before they could enter and break things. Just recently though a young boy had entered while Oikawa had been away and covered one of the walls in scarlet letting, spelling out ‘Fuck Ghosts’. Oikawa had lost it when he found out, it had taken the Great Forest Spirit Ushijima himself to stop Oikawa from killing the boy.

Slowly the sounds of the graveyard start up again as the spectors become used to the forest spirit’s presence. Oikawa sighs and mourns the loss of the peaceful night he had hoped for. On the off chance that a human would come by and see him he transformed back into his deer form. Laying down next to the grave he puts his head down to the ground. _I miss you, please come back._

Sleep overtakes Oikawa’s mind and he is thrust into memory after memory of his now dead loved one. All the ‘I love you’s’ he would never hear again. All the careful touches he would never feel again. The perfect voice he would never again be able to listen to. And the alluring olive green eyes he would never again be able to get lost in.

It's just reaching dawn as Oikawa awakes. Jolted out of sleep not by a memory, but the manifestation of the one wish that Oikawa’s heart desires more than anything. Oikawa tries to stop the flood of tears and emotions that threaten to overtake him, but fails as the full weight of the dream crashes down on him.

In the dream Iwaizumi had sat with him in a bed of flowers. Their hands were clasped together as they gazed up at the night sky. Oikawa leaned his head on Iwaizumi’s shoulder, letting out a satisfied hum. “I miss you,” he whispered, giving the Iwaizumi’s had a tight squeeze, just to reassure himself that he was actually _there_. The warmth that Iwaizumi gave off was reassuring. He was here, with Oikawa, finally they were other again. Oikawa wouldn’t let anything pull them apart. Never again.  

Iwaizumi ran his hand through Oikawa’s hair, “I missed you too.” Oikawa nuzzled his face into the side of Iwaizumi’s neck, who couldn’t help but gaze down affectionately at the other. Oikawa’s eyes were brighter and his expression showing more happiness than he had felt in the past 200 years. Iwaizumi leaned down and captured his lips in a kiss, trying to make up for all the time lost between them.

When they parted it was all too soon. Iwaizumi gave Oikawa a sad smile, “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait just a bit longer. I promise, I’ll be there soon.”

Oikawa’s stomach wrenched and his eyes widened. Desperately he clutched at Iwaizumi’s shirt, but the other was already beginning to fade. “No…” Oikawa whispered, “No! You can’t leave me again!” His voice trembled as sparks of magic shot out of his hands as he frantically tried to do anything that would keep Iwaizumi with him. But it was no use. Oikawa’s hands lost their grip on the shirt as it, along with its owner, faded into nothingness.

Iwaizumi gently caressed Oikawa’s face, but Oikawa could no longer feel the warmth that had been present there. Tears streamed down Oikawa’s face as Iwaizumi ghosted a final kiss over his lips. And just like that he was gone. The scenery around Oikawa crashed and he fell into darkness.

Lifting his head from where it was set on the ground, Oikawa surveyed the area. All the spectors have already gone underground to escape the sun, which means if he wants to talk to Sugawara he will have to wait until nightfall. His heart continues to do backflips as he lays on the damp ground. Oikawa feels as if his legs are going to give out if he attempts to move. So he stays and waits. He doesn’t know why, but he does.

A cold breeze sweeps through the graveyard. Oikawa shivers and closes his eyes. Upon reopening them something catches his eye. A human holding a camera stands a short distance away. The man lowers the camera to reveal uncannily familiar spiky black hair and haunting green eyes.

Oikawa freezes, shocked by the sight before him. The man tilts his head confused as to why the deer hadn’t run yet, but takes it as an opportunity to take another picture. The flash goes off and the man is even more puzzled when the deer doesn’t move an inch.

Slowly while carefully holding out a hand he approaches the deer. Oikawa doesn’t move a muscle, to overwhelmed by thoughts of ‘ _He’s here actually here. Am I still dreaming? He smells just like him? Why does my mind want to torture me.’_

The man now stands a foot in front of Oikawa. Encouraged by the fact that the deer hasn’t reacted negatively to him yet, the man smiles and closes the distance between his hand and Oikawa’s head.

When they finally come in contact a blinding flash emits from them.  Oikawa feels his body shift into a human’s without his permission and he stumbles back, surprised by the sudden change.

While the shift takes place flashes of a past life the man never knew filter through his mind. One they stop Iwaizumi blinks once before reaching forward and catching Oikawa before he could fall. He pulls the other close, and Oikawa immediately begins to clutch tightly at the back of his shirt. No words need to be said. They both know what the other is thinking.

When they seperate it isn’t a surprise that they are both crying. Iwaizumi pulls his hand up from where it was resting on Oikawa’s side and wipes away a tear. With a loving smile he asks, “What are you crying for you idiot? I told you I’d be back soon.”

 


End file.
